It took the International Olympic Committee 110 years to finally declare Jim Thorpe the sole winner of the 1912 Summer Olympics events in the decathlon and pentathlon.

Thorpe finished first in four of five pentathlon events. He won the broad jump (23 feet, 3 inches); the 200 meters (22.9 seconds); the discus (168 feet, 4 inches); and the 1,500 meters (4:40). He finished second in the javelin. Thorpe had triple the score of the silver medalist.

It was more of the same in the 10-event decathlon. Thorpe finished first in four events (shot put, high jump, 110-meter hurdles and 1,500 meters), second in four others (broad jump, 100 meters, 400 meters and discus) and third in the last two (pole vault and javelin). Thorpe scored 8,413 points out of a possible 10,000, an Olympic record that stood for 20 years. He finished 700 points ahead of the silver medalist.

Declared by Sweden’s King Gustav V as the “greatest athlete in the world” following his remarkable accomplishments, Thorpe was hailed as a national hero until a scandal resulted in his being stripped of the medals in 1913 and awarded to the runners-up in the events.

The IOC acted after learning that Thorpe had taken expense money ($2 a game for room and board in North Carolina) for playing baseball, which was a violation of the Olympic amateurism rules.

Seventy years after the 1912 Olympics, in 1982, the IOC reconsidered its position and decided that the disqualification was improper, because no one had protested Thorpe’s eligibility within the 30-day requirement. Replicas of the Olympic gold medals that Thorpe was forced to return were presented to his children. Even then, however, Thorpe was identified as a “co-champion,” although the second-place finishers followed far behind. Finally, earlier this year, the IOC proclaimed Thorpe as the sole winner of the two events.

James Francis Thorpe was born on May 28, 1888, in Prague, Indian Territory, which later became part of the state of Oklahoma. Thorpe’s mother named him “Wa-tho-huck,” which means Bright Path.

For all of his success after the Olympics in professional football and baseball, even being named “greatest athlete of the half-century (1900-50),” Thorpe’s life was a mixture of spectacular highs and excruciating lows. Along with his legendary accomplishments, his life was marked by poverty, alcoholism and failed marriages. He succumbed to a series of heart attacks, the last one claiming his life at the house trailer where he lived in Lomita, California, in March 1953.

Thorpe’s life was fictionalized in the 1951 Warner Bros. film “Jim Thorpe, All-American” starring Burt Lancaster. Although the film concluded with a happy ending, with Thorpe’s mentor and legendary coach Pop Warner coming to his rescue, Thorpe died poor and miserable because of his alcoholism, which led to abject poverty and poor health in his later years.

Although Jim Thorpe never set foot in the boroughs of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk, his name will forever be entwined with the resulting merger of the two communities which took on the famed athlete’s name in 1954 after his widow and the community struck a deal to erect a marble mausoleum containing Thorpe’s remains on Route 903. The site also contains descriptions of Thorpe’s amazing athletic accomplishments and abilities.

Although it did not happen overnight, the reincarnation of these former aging and economically distressed communities is one of the most compelling and inspiring business success stories of the 20th century.

It certainly has to qualify as one of the most unusual of how a community reinvented itself into one of the top tourist attractions in Pennsylvania.

In recent years, Jim Thorpe is consistently listed among the “coolest places in the United States” to live, and the community bustles with activity as it attracts thousands to its streets and attractions, especially during summer and fall weekends.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com

The foregoing opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board or Times News LLC.